Curiosity Probes Mars Night with Robotic LEDs to Reveal Hidden Rock Layers

NASA’s Curiosity rover lights up Martian darkness with LEDs on its robotic arm to illuminate a rock drill hole—Nevado Sajama—so scientists can study rock layers and boxwork formations that are otherwise shadowed. The true-color image from the Mars Hand Lens Imager shows how nighttime imaging helps geology work, building on 2018 drill improvements and noting a smooth hole drilled on sol 4740.